The foundation members of the Church
Anglican Church leaders in the Diocese of
Niger Delta North and foundation members of the Saint Matthew’s
Anglican Church, Nkpogwu Deanery, Rivers State, have locked horns over
who should be signatories to the church’s bank account.
The leaders of the church had frowned on a
situation where only foundation members were signatories to St.
Matterw’s bank account. Their argument was that the vicar of the church
must be a signatory.
The issue escalated after a new vicar,
Ven. Chiemela Samuel, assumed duty at the church and was not allowed to
be a signatory to the church’s bank account.
The leaders subsequently took on the foundation members, which led to a crisis in the church.
The crisis, however, took a fresh turn
when the foundation members openly challenged the leaders at a peace
meeting and embarked on a spontaneous protest outside the church
premises.
The meeting was called on Saturday to
settle the issue amicably, but rather, it escalated the crisis in the
church, with the foundation members demanding the removal of the pastor.
Electrical connections to the
vicar’s lodge were also disconnected.
Archibishop, Province of Niger Delta and
Bishop, Diocese of Niger Delta North, Most Rev. Ignatius Kattey, who had
tried to broker peace, said withdrawal and use of church funds without
the knowledge of the vicar was wrong.
He blamed the problem of the church on “some foundation members, who had been parading themselves as a cabal in the church.”
He said, “This church has been giving
problem since its inception. Members use money anyhow without the
pastor’s approval. We feel there should be a check to these things.
“In Anglican churches all over the world,
pastors are chief signatories, but it is not like that in this church.
The foundation members of the church use money anyhow because the pastor
is not a signatory to the church’s account.”
It was learnt that the diocesan
management team had met with some of the church members and came out
with a communiqué sighted by our correspondent on Thursday.
The communiqué, signed by Kattey and two
others, reads in part, “The Diocesan Board maintains that henceforth and
in line with the provisions and financial instructions of the Diocese
(Niger Delta North), signatories to all church bank accounts should be
the chairman (rector or vicar), treasurer and secretary with the
chairman as the only principal (‘A’) signatory.
“To this end, the Diocesan Board further
directs that all current signatories to all bank accounts of St.
Matthew’s Anglican Church, Nkpogwu Deanery, be replaced with new ones
from the caretaker committee until such a time when elections will be
held in line with diocesan regulations.
“The relevant provisions of the diocesan
financial institutions should be adhered to in order to forestall
further abuse of church funds.”
The Chairman, Resolution Committee, Ven.
Richard Okpara, condemned the invasion of the pastor’s residence to
disconnect electricity to the house.
He added, “The pastor brought a
generator. They went there again and destroyed it and spread faeces on
the pastor’s premises. We consider that to be witchcraft.
“About three pastors were driven away by this group of persons and now they want to drive the current pastor away.”
A member of the church, who prefers
anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, described the
allegations against the foundation members of the church as fallacies,
adding that the congregation had agreed that the pastor should go.
“All these allegations are fallacies. The
bishop is bringing ethnic coloration to the whole issue. The pastor is
trying to change the vision of the church and members are saying that
the pastor should go.”
When contacted, Samuel told PUNCH Metro on the telephone that he stood by the position of the diocese.
He added, “But we should know that the
truth always stands with two legs and falsehood stands with one leg.
Very soon, lies will get tired and the truth will prevail.”
Source: PUNCHmetro
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